Although watches make style statements, increasingly they have started facing competition from a less related device, the mobile phone. Most youngsters depend on their phones for time and feel a watch on their wrist is not so cool. However, the watch industry in the Asia-Pacific region is fast-growing and there is stiff competition among nations.

South Korea’s top financial policy-makers see Korea weathering the storm of financial upheaval on world markets but acknowledge that continuing to do so won’t be easy. “A short-term effect is inevitable due to the increase of volatility from overseas uncertainties such as the debt crises in the US and Europe,” Finance Minister Bahk Jaewan told a forum staged by The Economist in Seoul in September.

South Korea’s highly-developed IT industry is a technical marvel, and Korea was the first emerging nation to host the G20 Summit, when the group of 20 top world leaders gathered in Seoul in 2010 to talk about the global economy. In addition to the IT economic flow, there has been a cultural movement known as Hallyu, or the Korean Wave.

Mention the name Mongolia to most Westerners -- what is their response? It is likely to be a Genghis Khan joke. Few have studied the country. But it is now attracting much praise. About half of Mongolia’s 3 million people are farmers raising goats, sheep, and other animals. The remainder are concentrated in the capital, Ulaanbaatar.

Karachi is Pakistan’s main economic, banking and industrial center and home to the country’s largest corporations. At the height of its popularity, it was globally known as the “city of lights” and a strong symbol of Pakistan’s economic growth.

Vietnam, the thickly-populated developing country which had been struggling for the past 30 years due to war, loss of financial support, and the centrally-planned economy, is now slowly stabilizing and is proving to be one of the few fast-growing countries in the world. A number of industrial zones and major economic zones have been established in the country.

Located along the Asia-Pacific Rim in Southeast Asia, Vietnam’s industrial production value is said to have gained satisfactory growth with 73.7 trillion dong, rising 16.1 percent against the same period last year, of which, state economic zone saw a growth of 6.7 percent, private economic regions went up by 18.9 percent and foreign invested economic areas soared 18.5 percent, according to the general Statistic Office.

The sighs of relief that everyone was breathing after the United States Congress finally passed a compromise budget on August 1 quickly turned into moans of agony and derision as the U.S. stock market persisted in its worst slide since the 2008 “great recession.”

Clearly the “great recession” has never ended, and the same fears for the global economy persist, perhaps more strongly than ever. The problems this time may be a little different, reflecting grave doubts about the fiscal viability of economies across southern Europe from Spain and Portugal to Italy and Greece and north to Ireland, which a few short years ago was touted as an economic wunderkind.

South Korea continues in its position as fourth-largest economy in Asia by a 1.3 percent Gross Domestic Product. However, although early estimates in April showed 1.4 percent, the Bank of Korea affirmed in the first week of June that the first quarter GDP stood at 1.3 percent.

A tough report issued by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development portrays the downside of modern South Korea, despite the "miracle" of the rise from the ashes of the Korean War that raged some 60 years ago.

China's freshwater resources represent about 6 percent of the total global available amount. However, the Yangzte River basin, around the middle and lower parts of the vast country, has remained parched for several months now. The drought continues to be a grim reminder of the unscientific overuse of limited water resources that has fed China's growth in the past century.

China's industrial confidence is brimming over nowadays, and the best illustration of this is the setting up of luxury yacht-building companies such as Xiamen Hangsheng, Kingship Marine Ltd, and several others in Hong Kong. These Chinese yacht makers are today eyeing the global luxury boat and yacht segment. The luxury market for yachts in China itself is booming, due to the increase in the number of Chinese billionaires.

Over the past several months, tighter laws on greenhouse gas emissions have been a cause of worry for firms located across the AsiaPacific region. These tougher laws have increased the negative financial performance of companies spread across the area, and they continue to rock the ability of firms to seek greater funds and capital.

Today’s China is a symbol of growth. Spread across the country, hundreds and thousands of industries, most of them located in special purpose export hubs, have been leading China’s march on its way to becoming an economic powerhouse. While the smaller-scale industries are of the homebred variety, those in charge are local collaborators backed by massive multinational companies.

For several years now, construction has been booming in China, which is in fact the geographical location of at least half the latest building constructions around the world. What is amazing is not only the sheer volume of construction projects going on but also the incredible growth rate of almost 2 billion square meters of building floor space each year.

Not long after Google announced that it had invested US$168 million to develop the world’s largest solar energy power plant in California’s Mojave Desert, General Electric (GE) announced its plans to build an advanced technology, thin-film solar panel factory in the United States, which is anticipated to be larger than any other existing solar panel plant in the country.

South Korea, China and Japan are to conclude a joint study on the feasibility of a trilateral free trade agreement (FTA) before their three-way summit next year.

The agreement was made by South Korea’s Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon, Japan’s Trade Minister Banri Kaieda, and China’s Trade Minister Chen Deming during the 8th trade minister summit held in Tokyo on April 24th.

Taiwan’s announcement, at the beginning of the month, to allow Mainland China to invest in its technology sector is another step forward following the implementation of the ‘strait talks’ that explored a mutually beneficial trade agreement which might overcome decades of political antagonism.

The establishment of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, or the ECFA, on which most trade preferences are being developed, is a revitalizing road map for the development of the region.

Sam Chambers has been living in Greater China for over ten years, initially in Hong Kong and presently in the major port city of Dalian in Liaoning Province. Sam is the former East Asia Editor for Lloyd’s List newspaper. After that, he became a major freelance writer focusing on travel and transport issues. His keen eye led him and his co-author Paul French, now living in Beijing, to examine East Asia’s imports of black gold.

There is an old Chinese saying that a disaster can be a blessing in disguise.

How about a blessing can be a disaster in disguise? The Chi nese government recently revealed its energy efficiency and greenhouse gases reduction plan as part of the nation’s 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015). However, the country’s remarkable economic growth seems likely to be the biggest hurdle in real izing its environmental goals.

With its booming economy, China has grown to be the biggest electricity consumer in the world. Although this catapulted China into the number two spot among the world’s top economies, it also created problems for the nation, particularly with how to increase power generation capacities without incurring significant financial losses and adding to the nation’s already huge carbon emission footprint.